PORT ADELAIDE has reported no injuries after a solid internal trial game at Alberton Oval on Saturday morning.
Team black and team white were fairly evenly matched in the first half before the coaches wrang the changes and filled team black with more experienced players, allowing it to run away by 115 points.
Connor Rozee starred with six goals and plenty of score involvements and new faces Aliir Aliir and Orazio Fantasia looked comfortable in their new surrounds.
Development coach Matthew Lokan said more pleasing than some individual performances was the quality of the contest.
“You obviously don’t take too much out of it but from our point of view it was great to get through a competitive hit-out, our first for the season,” he said after the game.
“Four 25-minute quarters, no injuries and an opportunity to be able to practice for some of the stuff we’ve been working on over the summer.
“Garner ran into Wines, Robbie Gray went back with the flight of the ball – I think that’s a credit to our playing group that right to the last minute they were hungry for the contest.
“That’s what we expect as a team and we saw that today.”
While the scoreboard showed a gulf in the final teams, the first half was a closer contest with four goals separating the sides as some of the club’s younger players showed they had what it takes to play at the level.
Ollie Lord and Mitch Georgiades teamed up well in the forward line and Lachie Jones looked comfortable across half back, prompting Lokan to say his “power and ability to get out of traffic was AFL standard”.
Lokan said the game had thrown up some interesting discussion for the coaches around the likely team for Round 1.
“It’s one of the things we’ve identified that we’ve got some really good depth and it probably showed today, especially in the first half where we had two pretty even teams and some guys played some really good footy,” Lokan said.
“We were certainly more experienced in the second half. I think it was obvious to see that watching the second half but nothing is fixed at the moment.
“We’ve got really good list depth and I know the guys who weren’t in what you’ve described as the ‘best 22’ have certainly still got an opportunity to play in Round 1.”
Pleasing also was the dynamism of the forward line, especially with the small forwards gelling well.
“If you look at the guys who roll through there, Zak Butters, Connor Rozee, Steven Motlop, Orazio Fantasia, Robbie Gray – it’s probably a pretty hard forward line to stop if they’re up and going, and then the big guys, Charlie’s a beast up there, Todd Marshall showed some good things today and Pete Ladhams has had a really good summer so we feel like we’ve got a really good mix in the front half of the ground,” Lokan said.
“We’ve worked really hard on that over the summer to be more efficient going forward and we saw some good signs of that today.”
Lokan was reluctant to single out any individual performance but when asked about Rozee’s six-goal effort, he could not help but praise the third-year forward.
“He’s a pretty handy player. I think the way we moved the ball helps those smalls if they get over the back,” Lokan said.
“Three of (his goals) were probably on the goal line but he’s a star. He’s starting to get back into some good form with consistent training.
“Connor’s had a bit of a foot (injury) this year that’s held him back a little bit but I think we can all agree he started pretty well today and played pretty well.”
Several of the club’s SANFL-contracted players got game time in the trial game with Ben Edwards most impressive, while Tom Corcoran, Jack Strange, Miller Carter and Aryan Sareen also got .
Jackson Mead (minor hamstring strain), Trent McKenzie (corked thigh) and Tyson Goldsack (rolled ankle) were the only absentees in a good day at Alberton Oval.
